The subject invention relates to alarms and more particularly to an alarm system which senses the motion of an article to which it is attached. Particularly, the alarm is adaptable to remote control and is designed to be useful with household items such as televisions, stereos, and so forth.
With the ever increasing frequency of burglaries and housebreakings, the need has become apparent to protect the objects of such crimes, typically easily transportable and readily marketable household items such as television sets and sound system equipment. Up to this point, a simple and effectively controllable warning switch for indicating the displacement of a number of such household items from their normal position in the event of a theft has not been available. Ideally, such warning devices should embody a disabling control since the homeowner may desire to move household items for cleaning or other purposes without triggering an alarm. To be convenient, the capability to set a number of such devices at once throughout a home is desirable. Moreover, the devices need to be easily mountable in a variety of locations to adapt to various household devices.
To date, motion sensing devices have been provided which detect abnormal motion changes or accelerations above a certain level. U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,286 is an example. Such devices are typically overcomplex for the application here envisioned and do not provide the mounting flexibility and controlled resetting and arming features necessary in a practical home device. Neither have such devices been adapted to remote control so as to enable multiple devices to be easily reset by automatic means.